Indiana continues to embarrass itself by celebrating the ‘WatShot’

Do you continue to celebrate a regular season victory from nearly 12 years ago — against a team you ultimately lost to in the NCAA Tournament that same season, no less? Then you might be an Indiana basketball fan.

It has been 4,271 days since Christian Watford hit the left-wing 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Kentucky inside Assembly Hall in 2011. The Wildcats were No. 1 in the nation and the Hoosiers were undefeated at the time, inarguably the biggest win of Tom Crean’s career in Bloomington.

No matter the insignificance in the grand scheme of things — again, Kentucky beat Indiana in the Sweet 16 just three months later, scoring 102 points in regulation — the Hoosiers continue to celebrate the win.

Indiana hosted its third annual Hoosier Basketball Fan Fest this past weekend, the first chance for fans to meet the upcoming basketball team. Like most Fan Fests, the event featured a five-on-five scrimmage, dunk and 3-point contests and interactive competitions with the Hoosiers. Among the festivities? A reenactment of the ’WatShot’ with the man himself.

Ball brought up the full length of the court, kick-back for the trailing three from Watford. Bucket, crowd goes wild.

Cringe.

When do we get to recreate the 102-90 win the Wildcats earned that ensuing March? And then the title victory a little over a week later? Let’s do that at our next Kentucky Basketball Fan Fest.

No popcorn boxes necessary for that one. Plenty of actual championship memorabilia from that season.

Indiana basketball: the gift that keeps on giving.

Kentucky vs. Indiana returns in 2025-26

When can we see a regular-season rematch on deck? It’s unofficially on the schedule three years from now.

“We’ve agreed in principle that we’ll be playing them,” Calipari said at SEC Media Days last October. “It’ll start in ’25-26. But it’s at the administrative level now, so all the details will be worked out.”

IU head coach Mike Woodson said last May he would do everything in his power to get the home-and-home series back.

“I’m not going to let it die,” Woodson said. “I’m going to stay on [Calipari’s] heels about getting the Kentucky-Indiana series back on the table because I just think over the years, man, that was a hell of a game, going to Lexington and them coming down to Bloomington.”